despite the fact that Obama's timeline is apparently the same one promised by Bush/Cheney.

The fact that Cheney opposes the withdrawal tells me that it is the right thing to do.

Get the hell outta Iraq!

I used to feel very insulated from the war(s). I still am, I think. But it used to be that I couldn't tell you of anyone that I personally knew in the war zone.

I have a former college roommate (why do we feel compelled to say "former"? is it like people are going to think I am still in college?) and an in-law that have served in Afghanistan. I have a cousin who served in Iraq. And a cousin-in-law that is in Kuwait now.

An acquaintance who did dental work on Sadaam. Another acquaintance who as a shrink went on combat patrols (the army said it was so he could better relate to the soldiers and vice versa).

In other words, these wars have been going on so long that it's even reached my corner of the universe.

__________________In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
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Third, and a fine irony, US withdrawal from Iraq will enhance Iran's influence there and throughout the region, facilitating Tehran's progress toward achieving virtually all its goals. Considerable criticism of our overthrowing Saddam rested on the argument that terminating his regime eliminated a strong Arab-Sunni barrier to expanding Iranian-Shia influence. That view was always simplistic, given the region's vastly complex religious and ethnic politics. We had two threats to combat, and eliminating one inevitably meant confronting the other in due course. Unfortunately, under both Bush and Obama, we did not deal adequately with Iran's nuclear-weapons programme and its support for terrorism. That Iran is now more of a danger stems far more from that western failure than from overthrowing Saddam.

Are you effing me? These neocons are drunk with stupidity. And this is the man that Gingrich has promised he will install as Secretary of State.

__________________In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
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ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ